Do you believe there is life elsewhere in the universe?
There is almost certainly life elsewhere - but what we mean by life can vary. Single-celled organisms are most likely to survive harsh conditions - there are bacteria even on this planet that can survive total acidity, temperatures far below zero or far over boiling point, and some can live in salt conditions.
However if you mean sentient beings or complex organisms, this is different. Comparing the odds of life when looking at how infinitely large the universe is tends to clash with the other argument of how likely it is for perfect conditions for life could be recreated.
What do you think life needs in order to survive? Food, water, heat and oxygen, Maybe for life on Earth but how do we know that other life needs any of those things? It may breathe on carbon dioxide, (a common gas). Maybe it has the same qualities as a robot and doesn't need heat or food & water. In that case then could be life on basically any planet.
Of course it seems arrogant to think that we are the only life forms around - but it isn't that arrogant. Because we exist, this in itself enables us to ask such a question. That has no bearing on probabilities of further life.
There is always a possibility of life existing elsewhere - but it is unlikely. Of course, our creation was highly unlikely, so it is impossible to rule anything out - but we must be clear that in belief should not rule out evidence in a scientific discussion. I also believe it is likely to be far more advanced than our own civilization. The human race is only a few thousand years old, which isn't long given the age of the universe. Alien life may have had much more time in which to evolve.
Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.
I think that the stars are "other earths" and even the sun, maybe. It's a definite possibility, but I don't know if we will ever get to know the full extent of life in the universe. There are way too many and we are even encountering different new species of animals that we had never known of before, so it just can never be ruled out. I believe all religion stems from a combination of spiritual plant usage and alien encounters. Regardless what people tell me, I think that the 7 wonders of the world cannot be explained with conventional science.
I will not say that there is intelligent life on another planet in the universe, but I do say that the chances are extremely high.
Evolution is an extremely slow process; it takes millions upon millions of years to get to intelligent life, as we know it. Without the protection from our solar system Earth would not have had enough time without interruption for evolution to continue. There is evidence to show that cultures we consider 'ancient' had technology much like ours - perhaps even superior to ours. You don't hear this in the news because true knowledge is suppressed.
But in another galaxy. Think about it, we're in our solar system, which is in a galaxy a size that we can't even come CLOSE to comprehending. And on top of that, there are many billions of galaxies other than our own.
It is estimated that there are about one billion stars in our galaxy (the milky way)
Lets say, 1 in 1000 of those suns have planets, that's million.
Out of those one million, say 1 in 100 stars' planets are made of rocks, not gas. That's 10,000 left.
Say that 1 in 100 of those planets are within 100-200 million kilometers from the star (so that they are not too hot or cold to be inhabited). That's 100.
So, if these rough (very rough) numbers are anywhere near reality, we have 100 planets that may be inhabited by intelligent life and that is just our galaxy out of trillions ! Source;Asha.C
"Researchers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found the molecules acetylene and hydrogen cyanide, precursors to DNA and proteins, swirling around a young star.
These are some of life's most basic building blocks and they were found in the terrestrial planet zone, the area around the star in which a rocky planet could form and have water on its surface. Of the 100 stars the astronomers surveyed, just one, IRS 46, unquestionably contained the molecules. It's a boon to those who believe life could form elsewhere:
Here on Earth, the molecules are believed to have arrived billions of years ago, possibly via comets or comet dust that rained down from the sky. Acetylene and hydrogen cyanide link up together in the presence of water to form some of the chemical units of life's most essential compounds, DNA and protein. These chemical units are several of the 20 amino acids that make up protein and one of the four chemical bases that make up DNA.
"If you add hydrogen cyanide, acetylene and water together in a test tube and give them an appropriate surface on which to be concentrated and react, you'll get a slew of organic compounds including amino acids and a DNA purine base called adenine," said Dr. Geoffrey Blake of Caltech, a co-author of the paper. "And now, we can detect these same molecules in the planet zone of a star hundreds of light-years away." Source;here
There is almost certainly life elsewhere - but what we mean by life can vary. Single-celled organisms are most likely to survive harsh conditions - there are bacteria even on this planet that can survive total acidity, temperatures far below zero or far over boiling point, and some can live in salt conditions.
However if you mean sentient beings or complex organisms, this is different. Comparing the odds of life when looking at how infinitely large the universe is tends to clash with the other argument of how likely it is for perfect conditions for life could be recreated.
What do you think life needs in order to survive? Food, water, heat and oxygen, Maybe for life on Earth but how do we know that other life needs any of those things? It may breathe on carbon dioxide, (a common gas). Maybe it has the same qualities as a robot and doesn't need heat or food & water. In that case then could be life on basically any planet.
Of course it seems arrogant to think that we are the only life forms around - but it isn't that arrogant. Because we exist, this in itself enables us to ask such a question. That has no bearing on probabilities of further life.
There is always a possibility of life existing elsewhere - but it is unlikely. Of course, our creation was highly unlikely, so it is impossible to rule anything out - but we must be clear that in belief should not rule out evidence in a scientific discussion. I also believe it is likely to be far more advanced than our own civilization. The human race is only a few thousand years old, which isn't long given the age of the universe. Alien life may have had much more time in which to evolve.
Just because we can't see it doesn't mean it's not there.
I think that the stars are "other earths" and even the sun, maybe. It's a definite possibility, but I don't know if we will ever get to know the full extent of life in the universe. There are way too many and we are even encountering different new species of animals that we had never known of before, so it just can never be ruled out. I believe all religion stems from a combination of spiritual plant usage and alien encounters. Regardless what people tell me, I think that the 7 wonders of the world cannot be explained with conventional science.
I will not say that there is intelligent life on another planet in the universe, but I do say that the chances are extremely high.
Evolution is an extremely slow process; it takes millions upon millions of years to get to intelligent life, as we know it. Without the protection from our solar system Earth would not have had enough time without interruption for evolution to continue. There is evidence to show that cultures we consider 'ancient' had technology much like ours - perhaps even superior to ours. You don't hear this in the news because true knowledge is suppressed.
But in another galaxy. Think about it, we're in our solar system, which is in a galaxy a size that we can't even come CLOSE to comprehending. And on top of that, there are many billions of galaxies other than our own.
It is estimated that there are about one billion stars in our galaxy (the milky way)
Lets say, 1 in 1000 of those suns have planets, that's million.
Out of those one million, say 1 in 100 stars' planets are made of rocks, not gas. That's 10,000 left.
Say that 1 in 100 of those planets are within 100-200 million kilometers from the star (so that they are not too hot or cold to be inhabited). That's 100.
So, if these rough (very rough) numbers are anywhere near reality, we have 100 planets that may be inhabited by intelligent life and that is just our galaxy out of trillions !
Source; Asha.C
"Researchers using NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope have found the molecules acetylene and hydrogen cyanide, precursors to DNA and proteins, swirling around a young star.
These are some of life's most basic building blocks and they were found in the terrestrial planet zone, the area around the star in which a rocky planet could form and have water on its surface. Of the 100 stars the astronomers surveyed, just one, IRS 46, unquestionably contained the molecules. It's a boon to those who believe life could form elsewhere:
Here on Earth, the molecules are believed to have arrived billions of years ago, possibly via comets or comet dust that rained down from the sky. Acetylene and hydrogen cyanide link up together in the presence of water to form some of the chemical units of life's most essential compounds, DNA and protein. These chemical units are several of the 20 amino acids that make up protein and one of the four chemical bases that make up DNA.
"If you add hydrogen cyanide, acetylene and water together in a test tube and give them an appropriate surface on which to be concentrated and react, you'll get a slew of organic compounds including amino acids and a DNA purine base called adenine," said Dr. Geoffrey Blake of Caltech, a co-author of the paper. "And now, we can detect these same molecules in the planet zone of a star hundreds of light-years away."
Source; here